George Switzer – Plymouth to Paris

by Anita Boetsma | May 6, 2026 | Plymouth, Visitor Stories & Oral Histories

1918 Plymouth High School Basketball Team, Switzer on left.

George Switzer was born in Plymouth in 1900. He was a talented artist and at age 16 was chosen to illustrate the book, Centennial History of Indiana, by Judge John Kitch. George went on to graduate as the president of his class and studied psychology at the University of Illinois. He distinguished himself there as president of the arts and psychology fraternities, and as art director of campus publications. His first design business was launched when he successfully bid against Chicago firms for the decorations used in the college dances.

From college, George worked as a Bible salesman, where again, he excelled by doubling the business in 16 months. His desire to work in an artistic way led him to accept a job as an industrial designer. His work in Chicago led to an offer from an advertising firm in New York where he designed everything from envelope stickers to messengers’ uniforms and delivery trucks. Having made his name, Switzer opened his own office in 1929 as a designer and consultant. He subsequently worked for 65 American companies, and shortly opened an office in Paris, France. He designed a variety of things including letterhead, sausage labels and a Rolls-Royce automobile body. Switzer was instrumental in organizing the 1937 Exhibitions on Modern Packaging and Materials show in New York. He also promoted packaging shows in the U.S. and France. He won several awards for his designs internationally as well as stateside.

George passed away in 1940 following surgery for mastoiditis. His funeral was conducted in the Presbyterian church, and he is buried at Oakhill Cemetery. The print obituaries in the Museum’s archive summarize his life well, but it is the extra artifacts in the file that tell the real story. An article from a New York newspaper shares several nuggets about George:

“He still drawls, he still says mebbe for maybe. He might have been a farmer, except for one summer when he was nine years old, he ‘rented a piece of land from grandfather. I hoed and planted and watered all summer. The other kids were playing baseball or swimmin’. I kept careful books and at the end of the summer I had made 37 cents for four month’s work. I never wanted to be a farmer after that…’

“His interests range all over the earth: from re-designing ocean liners ‘so that folks will feel more like they are out on the seas that pirates used to roam over, instead of safe and sound in an apartment hotel…’ From that field, his interests range to ‘working out an art program for high schools…I am experimenting with it back in my hometown sort of…it’s based on a pretty simple idea that sounds sort of screwy when I say it, but here it is: Just teach kids that every place they leave, ought to be made more beautiful for their having been there.’”

Christmas Card by George Switzer.

George never forgot his hometown and remained close to his Plymouth family throughout his life. Our archive includes letters to his aunts and an amazing collection of hand-made Christmas cards. His designs are as imaginative and fresh now as they were when created in the 1920s and ‘30s. Each year George created a sophisticated work of art, very much in the art deco style of the day. He used metallic papers and inks, embossed detail, intricate folds and handwritten verse. In these days of digital greetings, these pieces of art are all the more charming.

This is just one file in the Marshall County Museum’s archives, and one more story of a life that made an impact. We are privileged to preserve these items to tell our collective story! Come visit this holiday season. The Museum is open located at 123 N. Michigan St., Plymouth, and open Tuesday – Saturday, 10-4.

Family Searches for Long Lost Nephews

by Anita Boetsma | Apr 30, 2026 | Plymouth, Visitor Stories & Oral Histories

Herbert M. Cunningham’s gravesite.

The Plymouth Republican of April 23, 1908 had an interesting article about a Maine family searching for long lost nephews in Indiana. The boys were sent to Indiana on an orphan train. The Orphan Train movement (1853–early 1900s) was a massive social welfare experiment that relocated over 120,000 to 200,000 orphaned, abandoned or homeless children from crowded Eastern cities—primarily New York—to foster homes in the rural Midwest.

About 20 years earlier, the father of the boys, William Morey, died and their mother, Lillie Dean Morey, was in very poor health. Lillie was sent to a sanitorium where she later died. Her brother, D.L. Dean, was unable to care for the boys, having a family of his own, so he placed them in a Boston orphanage who promised to take very good care of the brothers. Before long, the Morey brothers were shipped west on the Orphan Train. The Dean family were not told of their whereabouts.

The Morey brothers, William and Herbert, were both taken in by a Mr. Cunningham in Plymouth, who intended to keep Herbert and find another home for William. In 1908, Cunningham said that William had been shifted from home to home and “had a hard time of it.” At first William made his home with Preacher Clark in Plymouth. He later spent time with Sam Swaysgood, and then John Cook, living west of Plymouth. He returned for a time to Preacher Clark and finally went to Peter Brown in Michigan City.

Dean remained interested in his nephews and as time passed and he prospered, he began to seek information about them and their whereabouts. He found out “in a roundabout way” that William was working for a farmer in Michigan City named Peter Brown. He determined to take a trip to Indiana and look for his missing family. In 1908, the Deans visited Peter Brown in Michigan City. He indicated that William Morey had left his employ two years earlier, and he did not have a new address for him.

While they did not locate William, they did receive a clue about where to find Herbert. Upon visiting him in Plymouth a few days later, they found a young man close to turning 21. Herbert had a good home with the Cunninghams and was satisfied with his present lot. He did not know of the death of his mother, nor that he had an uncle and aunt living until shown a clipping from a LaPorte newspaper.

Herbert Cunningham went on to fight in WWI and was discharged to the Veteran’s Home in Marion, IN, with a diagnosis of Constitutional Psychopathic State. This diagnosis covered a wide range of problems, including shellshock. In 1920, Herbert was living in South Bend with his foster sister.

In 1921 Herbert married Mary Cannon, and they had a son, Rex, in 1922. He was apparently still struggling with mental health issues, as he was sent to Longcliff, later named the Logansport State Hospital, in 1929. By 1930, Herbert was back at the Veteran’s Home in Marion. At some point he was transferred to the Veteran’s Hospital in Dayton, OH, where he died on September 18, 1969.

This is just one of the fascinating stories contained in our archives. Our library is available from Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 AM until 4:00 PM. The Museum is located at 123 N. Michigan St. in Plymouth. Call us at 574-936-2306.

George E. Thornburg: Lifelong Depot Agent

by Anita Watts Kopetski | Apr 24, 2026 | Burr Oak, LaPaz, Railroad, Visitor Stories & Oral Histories

Burr Oak Depot, undated.

The information below comes from the Indianapolis Star Magazine, November 18, 1956, and the Culver Citizen of September 18 and 25, 1957.

Early Life of George Thornburg

George Edgar Thornburg was born at Stillwell, IN on April 3, 1891, one of four children of William Henry and Malinda (Kaser) Thornburg. By the time George was 9 years old, the family was living in the LaPaz area.

He married Amanda Lodema Strang on May 17, 1910, and they made their home in Burr Oak. They had five daughters, Opal, Elwyn, Kathryn, Mary Jane and Ramona. All five daughters grew to adulthood, married and lived in Marshall County.

A Career In Railroading

Thornburg went into “railroading” in 1910 and would have a 47-year career. Since telegraphy was the up and coming thing, he started by watching the telegraph key at the local junction in LaPaz. After George had mastered the code, he and his cousin rigged a line between their houses and practiced sending messages.

After a brief interval as a streetcar conductor in South Bend, he came back to the steam locomotives. ‘There’s something about a railroad,” he stated. So many people at that time felt the pull of the railroads.

At the time employees of the railroad worked nine hours, seven days a week. If the freight loads were heavy, the shift might stretch to 12 hours. Trains were dispatched by orders telegraphed ahead to each station. Thornburg would receive the orders, fasten them to a hook at the end of a long pole and hand them up to the engineer. If the train was not scheduled to stop at the station, he had to move fast, for the train’s speed would not slacken as the locomotive thundered past. Sometimes the orders involved two engineers, and he would have to get the orders to both.

Thornburg was employed by the Nickel Plate Railroad as an agent first at Ober, then Hibbard, then Burr Oak. In 1954 he was transferred to Hibbard again.

Memorable Days On the Railroad

In 1917 he said he saw a derailment, “and it was plenty for a lifetime.” A wreck occurred on August 30 of that year, described in the Bremen Enquirer of September 6, 1917. An arch bar broke under a car in a long line of cars going about 30 miles an hour. Fifteen freight cars were smashed to pieces and piled up along the south side of the B & O track near the bridge over the Yellow River a mile and a half west of Bremen. Oats, sugar, agricultural implements and various freight were all mixed up. Fortunately, no one was hurt. It was several days before the wreckage was cleaned up.

Thornburg did get to meet a celebrity, the well-known opera singer Mme. Schumann-Heink, whose son attended Culver Military Academy. George said she “had a nice way, pleasant and not a bit put on.” Tycoons then often travelled by private railroad car, and Thornburg would occasionally be the recipient of some delicious food shared by their chefs. On occasion a hobo would sneak in for a nap on a bench in the waiting room.

In the 1950s some Culver Military Academy students still used the Nickel Plate Railway station at the Hibbard depot, which was a flag stop. He would have to handle the luggage and make sure no items were left behind by the boys.

George Thornburg's Everyday Duties

Eventually the telephone and automatic signals replaced the skills of telegraphy and teletyping. But Thornburg still had to sell tickets and keep up with paperwork for baggage and freight. He had to receive the mail from trains that did not stop. He was sometimes helped in this by “a youthful assistant, Bobby Albert.” Bob Albert would grow up to work for the railroad and as a lifelong train enthusiast, still volunteers at the railroad museum.

Thornburg also had the regular duties of keeping the station swept, the waiting room benches dusted and the potbellied stove ready for a fire. A phone call would tell him if the train was on schedule. If a taxi was requested, he would call a cab company in Culver. When passengers wanted to board the train, Thornburg would put on his billed railroad cap and step out well ahead of the train to flag for a stop. He also figured tickets and helped plan trips. The longest ticket he ever sold was a 13-coupon ticket to Vancouver. He said he prided himself on being a good consultant and had a flair for scenic routes.

An important duty for Thornburg was that he had to closely inspect every passing wheel for “hotboxes,” an axle bearing that became excessively hot due to friction. If one got hot enough to burn out a journal bearing (a plain bearing without rolling elements), or a journal box, which housed the journal bearing, it could cause a wreck.

A Tragic Ending

On Monday, September 16, 1957, Thornburg said he called the Culver Citizen with a heavy heart to report bad news. He had received a telegram: “On and after September 24 all business in the Hibbard and Burr Oak stations will be handled at Knox. Tuesday, September 23 will be the last day that the Hibbard station will be open to the public.” This was perhaps the saddest disappointment of his long life of service.

But he never had to see the closing of the Hibbard station. A week before it was scheduled to close, he passed away of coronary thrombosis while sitting in a chair in his home at Burr Oak on the morning of September 18, 1957. Can a person die of a broken heart? If so, perhaps George Thornburg did. George Thornburg was faithful to his job working for the railroad for 47 years. He was a true railroad devotee.

Marshall County’s history is full of great stories about the people and events that shaped our area. The Marshall County Historical Society & Museum offers the opportunity to research and learn about our forebears. We are open from 10:00 until 4:00, Tuesday through Saturday, at 123 N. Michigan St., Plymouth. Call us at 574-936-2306.

Christian Seiler of Bremen

by Anita Boetsma | Apr 17, 2026 | Bremen, Visitor Stories & Oral Histories

Christian Seiler and his wife, Mary Ann.

The history of Christian Seiler, Jr., of Bremen is a fascinating example of how Marshall County grew and prospered during the 1800s. Some of the beautiful descriptive phrases used by the original writer have been left in this essay, as they perfectly convey the picture of an earlier time.

Birth and Childhood of Christian Seiler

In the spring of 1837, Christian Seiler, Sr., and Anna Fents were united in marriage, and unto them six children were born. Christian Seiler, Jr., first saw the sun rise on the morning of March 18, 1838, on the shore of Lake Brienz, near Interlaken, Canton Berne, in Switzerland. His father was born in the same house on August 10, 1806. His mother was Anna Fentz, born August 15, 1810, in Gsteigwyler, a romantic spot within two miles of Interlaken.

In the year 1798, when French generals took control of Berne, the capital of Switzerland, they demanded all the money that had been hoarded there in the national treasury. Grandfather Fentz was called on as a militiaman to help defend his country. Perhaps the first and only duty he performed was to obey the orders of some French commander to watch the money that was boxed up and ready on the sidewalk in front of the treasury building for shipment to Paris. Afterward, the old man often said that he was a fool for not taking a box of the gold and walking away with it. He was in that day considered a wealthy man, as he owned a great deal of land, cows, horses and sheep. In the summer season he was always up in the Alps herding his stock and making cheese and butter.

Moving to America

In the year 1853, the Seiler family determined to emigrate to America to better their fortunes, having heard and read much of this fruitful land and the opportunities it offered to those who were seeking homes. So, on the 13th day of October 1853, the entire family started from their native home for the western world. They made their way across Switzerland, through France to Paris, and thence to Havre where they took passage in a French sailing ship. After a voyage of 28 days, they arrived safely in the harbor of New York. They remained there over Sunday, and then proceeded west by way of the Erie railroad to Buffalo, by boat to Cleveland and Toledo, thence by the Lake Shore to South Bend, IN, where they arrived on the 1st of December.

On the 5th of that month, they rode on an ox wagon, owned by Uncle John Dietrich, to the town of Bremen, which was their destination. Christian Seiler, Sr., bought eighty acres of land one mile west of Bremen from his brother-in-law, for $700, of which $300 was paid in cash. His son, Christian, was then bound out to his uncle, John Dietrich, for the period of five years to earn the $400 that was unpaid on the land.

About June 1, 1854, Dietrich with his family moved to Bremen into a log house, and in the spring of that year erected the first cabinet shop, in which Christian learned his trade and served his time, which ended January 1st, 1859. Christian then went to Olney, IL, where he worked as a carpenter in summer and as a cabinetmaker in winter. He received wages of $1.25 a day and board.

Returning to Bremen, Christian continued to work at his trade successfully until the civil war broke out in 1861. In the fall of that year he enlisted in Company K, Twenty-Ninth Indiana volunteer infantry. He took part in the battles of Shiloh, Stone River, Chickamauga, and the siege of Corinth. During several months in 1863, Christian occupied the honorable position of color-bearer of his regiment. In October 1863, he received an injury that sidelined him, and a month later was discharged as his service commitment expired. Returning to Bremen, he resumed work at his trade.

Christian and Mary Ann Seiler

Christian Seiler's Later Life

On the 15th of February 1866, Christian Seiler, Jr., was united in marriage to Mary Ann Beylor, who was born in German Township in 1846. To their union were born the following children: Frederick William, Margaret Ellinore, Eda Annie, Edward Clayton, Clara Erclina, Jennetta May, Emma Estalla, Josephine and two sons who died at birth.

Mary Ann’s father was George Beyler, a native of Alsace, France, who came to this county in 1833, first settling in Ohio, and later in Marshall County. In 1837 he married Rebecca Lehr, a native of Lancaster, PA. Mr. Beyler cleared land and was very successful. He accumulated a great deal of property during his life. He was a good Christian man and held membership with the Evangelical association for 35 years. He was respected and loved by all who knew him, and died in 1881, at age 70, sincerely lamented by the entire community.

Christian Seiler worked at his trade until 1871 when he built a shop and storehouse and went into the furniture and undertaking business. He prospered until 1882, when he sold out to John Miller of LaPorte.

He has held the position of assessor of German Township, member of the town school board, clerk and treasurer of Bremen and justice of the peace. He filled all the offices conscientiously and gave satisfaction to the people who appointed him.

Christian built a house in Bremen for his father, when he retired from farming in 1873 because of old age. Christian Seiler, Sr., died there December 17, 1873, at age 67. He was followed by his wife on the 16thday of March 1887 at age 76.

Christian Seiler, Jr., was not a member of any church, but belonged to the Masonic Fraternity and the G.A.R. post of Bremen, IN. In 1881, he took a trip to the old country, revisiting beautiful Switzerland, the scene of his birth and childhood, and visited other countries, remaining abroad three months. Mary Ann Seiler died on April 12, 1891 at age 45. Christian died on July 18, 1914, at age 76.

The Museum is proud to preserve and share family stories. If you have a Marshall County family story, please share it with us. Stop in anytime between 10 and 4 on Tuesday through Saturday! The Museum is located at 123 N. Michigan St. in Plymouth. Call us at 574-936-2306.

John R. Jacoby’s Meat Preservation Technique

by Thais Carrillo | Apr 15, 2026 | Agriculture, Plymouth, Visitor Stories & Oral Histories

Food planning and preparation books.

Meat preservation involves methods to retain the taste, texture and safety of meats. Artificial refrigeration began in the 1750s, and developed more fully in the early 1800s, but it wasn’t until the 1930s that refrigerators became popular in the U.S. Before this, knowing how to preserve food without refrigeration was vital for families!

Read this excerpt from the memories of John R. Jacoby, born in Center Township in 1859, on his days-long process of preserving meat. Jacoby was a lifelong Marshall County farmer and secretary of the Jacoby Church and Cemetery in Plymouth, which his grandfather co-founded. The article has been edited for clarity.

How to Preserve Meat by John R. Jacoby

“First to do is to rub saltpeter over the meat. Then, put salt in the kettle, enough to cover the hams and shoulders good. Get the salt good and hot so it smokes.

Take a hoe and dig a hole in the salt, then drop a ham in and cover it completely. Leave in for two minutes and then take it out and turn it over. Leave in salt for two minutes more, or a little longer according to the size of the hams.

Then wash the meat again with Borax and hang the meat up. Let it drip for a couple of days, then smoke the meat all it needs. Then take down the meat and wrap in paper and put in sacks. Then it is ready to put away.”

The MCHS and Museum is currently renovating its Dairy and Ice Room which tells all about the history of refrigeration and ice harvesting in Marshall County. Stay tuned for its grand reopening later this year! The Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am-4 pm at 123 N. Michigan St. Call us at 574-936-2306 for more information.

Grandma Hollett’s Educational Firsts

by Anita Boetsma | Apr 9, 2026 | Education, Visitor Stories & Oral Histories

Emmett School roster 1914-1915.

The following is an article written by avid genealogist and former resident of Plymouth, Mary Jo Jacob, who now lives in California. She recounts the history of her grandmother, Tillie Scott Hollett, whose determination resulted in the education of hundreds of Marshall County children.

Grandma Hollett's Educational Firsts

My Grandma Tillie Scott Hollett worked hard and overcame obstacles to become a teacher. Her love of learning and teaching animated her life and influenced her children and grandchildren. In my case, Grandma reassured my mother I would do just fine in first grade even though I could not go to kindergarten. (We lived in the country outside of Plymouth where the rural school bus schedule did not accommodate kindergarten hours.)Grandma advised mom to teach me my numbers and letters from the cookbook we used when baking.The year I was five, I baked my way into numeracy and literacy and was well prepared to start first grade at Washington School in Plymouth. Grandma’s own education began more conventionally, but her educational achievements were hard-won “firsts” in the family and inspired my own educational goals.

Born in a covered wagon in What Cheer, Iowa in 1898, Tillie Scott’s educational prospects were initially dim but improved when her parents returned home to their farming community in Pulaski County, Indiana. One room schoolhouses sprouted up every couple of miles alongside the cornfields that covered the county. For seven or so years between September and April, whether it was sunny, rainy or snowing, Tillie tramped down the dirt road from her family’s farm to the nearest school. By age thirteen or fourteen, she finished the sixth grade, the highest grade completed by each of her parents.

Around that time, the one room schools in her part of the county were consolidated. Thereafter, Tillie journeyed further to school in the nearby town of Kewanna which is where she graduated from the eighth grade. Subsequently Tillie studied at Kewanna High School for three years. When she entered her senior year, her family moved away from the farm and the county. Tillie likely had to fight with her parents to continue in high school. If so, she won the battle.

Tillie moved thirty miles from the farm to the town of Logansport where her Scott family relatives lived, and where she enrolled for her senior year. Although she was a new student, the high school yearbook noted Tillie gave a memorable speech to the school on women’s suffrage, a topic about which she was passionate. Tillie graduated from Logansport High School in 1909. She was twenty years old and proud to be the first high school graduate in the family. According to one family story, Tillie felt her parents did not fully value her accomplishment because their graduation gift was a mirror from a coffee tin, put there as a promotional gimmick.

Tillie Scott, high school graduation.

Tillie aspired to higher education but had to set her educational ambitions aside. After high school, she moved to her parents’ home in Plymouth where she found a job working at Schlosser Brothers Creamery. The job enabled Tillie to help her family financially as well as save money for herself. Her goal was to become a schoolteacher. To do so, she needed to take college courses and pass a state teacher’s license exam.

In 1912, Tillie applied to nearby Valparaiso University which at the time was the second largest school in the nation after Harvard University. In fact, Valparaiso University was nationally known as the “Poor Man’s Harvard” because of its affordability and high quality. (Valparaiso University History https://www.valpo.edu/about/history/). She was accepted into the Teacher’s Department and enrolled for two consecutive twelve-week terms.

Tillie was an excellent student who scored 95 percent or better in most of her classes. One of her worst grades was in cooking – 87 percent. Not a surprise to her grandchildren who remember that Grandma was not a good cook. On the other hand, she excelled in American and English literature which is also unsurprising to those who knew her. Tillie instilled a love of poetry, literature and books in her children who, in turn, shared that love with their own.

After two terms at Valparaiso and passing the state teacher’s license exam, Tillie returned to a one room schoolhouse in Pulaski County, this time as the teacher at the Emmett School in the village of Denham. For two years, she taught kindergarten through the eighth grade to a group of thirty students. At the end of her first year, she returned to Valparaiso University to complete her third and last term. Ten days after she completed her second year of teaching, Tillie married Clarence Hollett and left Denham because Harrison Township did not employ married women. In fact, Harrison Township did not hire its first married female teacher until 1942.

Tillie Scott Hollett with her BS. degree.

Tillie moved to Culver in neighboring Marshall County where the school system had no restrictions on married women teaching. She initially taught the third and fourth grades and eventually taught home economics at Culver High School in 1918-1919. While in Culver, Tillie became involved in women’s clubs which were important organizations for women to educate themselves, develop their leadership skills, and improve their communities through volunteer efforts. Through her membership in the Culver City Club, Tillie continued her educational and advocacy work on behalf of the Susan B. Anothony amendment. She was thrilled when the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified in 1920.

During the next three decades, marked by the Great Depression and World War II, Tillie’s teaching and educational endeavors were focused on her four children and channeled into her club activities. She wrote poetry and compiled research papers that she read to club members as part of club educational programs. After the war, and after her children were married, Tillie wanted to teach in the classroom again. However, she needed a new teaching credential, and that required a bachelor’s degree.

Ever determined, Tillie enrolled at Manchester College (now Manchester University) and completed her B.S. degree in Elementary Education in 1953 at age sixty-four. Her graduation was a family affair attended by a proud husband, her mother, her four children, eight grandchildren, and her brother’s family. Tillie had accomplished another educational first. She was the first person in the family to graduate from college.

Tillie taught elementary school for nine years in Tyner, a small town near her home in Plymouth. During my “baking kindergarten year,” Grandma invited me to visit her classroom for a day. Whether it was the excitement of finally being able to go to school, or the fact that I got to ring the bell to end the recess period, I never forgot my first day of school. Years later Grandma encouraged me to go to college, but her less than encouraging reaction to my decision to continue for a master’s and doctorate surprised me. She worried, “You won’t become a wife and mother.” She came to my wedding but did not live to meet my son or see me receive my advanced degrees. Given her profound influence, I like to think she would have been pleased with my own educational first, the first in the family to get those two degrees.

The Museum is proud to preserve and share family stories. Stop in anytime between 10 and 4 on Tuesday through Saturday to learn more or bring your own! The Museum is located at 123 N. Michigan St. in Plymouth. Call us at 574-936-2306.

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